Dunkirk

American  

[duhn-kurk] / ˈdʌn kɜrk /

noun

1. French Dunkerque.  a seaport in N France: site of the evacuation of a British expeditionary force of over 330,000 men under German fire May 29–June 4, 1940.

2. a period of crisis or emergency when drastic measures must be enforced.

   The smaller nations were facing a financial Dunkirk.

3. a city in W New York, on Lake Erie.

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Dunkirk Cultural  

1. The scene of a remarkable, though ignominious, retreat by the British army in World War II. Dunkirk, a town on the northern coast of France, was the last refuge of the British during the fall of France, and several hundred naval and civilian vessels took the troops back to England in shifts over three days.

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Discover More

The term Dunkirk is sometimes used to signify a desperate retreat.

Example Sentences

Nolan won two Oscars in 2024 for his last release, Oppenheimer, and also is known for films including Dunkirk, Inception, Interstellar and The Dark Knight.

From BBC • May 22, 2026

We sent an undercover researcher, posing as a migrant trying to cross the Channel illegally with his child, into a migrant camp in Dunkirk.

From BBC • May 18, 2026

The train had been travelling from Dunkirk to Paris.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026

Greenpeace members on Saturday filmed the loading of about 10 containers with radioactive labels onto a cargo ship in the Channel port of Dunkirk, the NGO said.

From Barron's • Nov. 16, 2025

As William hunkered by the radio, Norway fell to the Nazis, and the British Army struggled to regroup after its defeat at Dunkirk.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield